Motorola Stockholders to Vote on Google Merger

November 17, 2011 is the date Motorola Mobility stockholders will vote on the company’s acquisition by Google for $12.5 billion, or $40 a share, TechCrunch reported.

Shareholders who held stock on October 11 will get to vote. Since the offer was first made in August for the consumer electronics division of Motorola, the Motorola stock has gone from around $22 a share to $38.

Google Android boss Andy Rubin told AllThingsD that Google would operate Motorola at “arms’ length” and that “the company didn’t buy Motorola for its hardware, but for its patents” confirming the earlier speculation. Rubin went on to say Motorola wouldn’t get any special treatment.

“But even with Rubin’s assurances and with evidence that seems to back up his claims, there are some who aren’t so sure Google can keep Motorola Mobility at arm’s length,” CNET reported.

“Any way (Google) tries to couch this, there’s no doubt Motorola is the most favored player,” Gartenberg said. “If I’m a third-party vendor, I have some real concerns here.”

“There are 18 specific patents Motorola Mobility owns that can help Google battle current litigation. These patents have already been used previously when Motorola Mobility “picked a fight” with Apple, issuing three lawsuits of their own. Those lawsuits targeted more than Apple’s iPhone. It also targeted iPad, AppleTV, and even the MacBook Air. Four of those 18 patents were also used against Research in Motion, resulting in the BlackBerry manufacturer to pay royalties, too,” Craver noted.

It would seem the shareholders will vote for the sale as stock prices would likely fall dramatically if it were turned down.

Want to stay on top of the latest search trends?

Get top insights and news from our search experts.

Related reading

Google is continually making its SERPs richer, more feature-led, and increasingly intuitive on desktop, but how the SERPs are being displayed across mobile devices deserves special attention from marketers. It’s a space that presents its own challenges and opportunities, writes Luke Richards.

Good SEO practice is the difference between getting your site ranked as high up the search results and possible, and reducing the chance of a click through to your site. It can be frustrating to spend a great deal of time and effort on SEO and not see the results. Pius Boachie shares some tips you can quickly implement to make a difference.

Tracking your keywords on mobile and desktop is absolutely essential for both reporting accuracy and for supporting SEO strategies. Jessie Moore explains why you should separate your keyword strategies for each device, and shares quick tips for consideration

The visual search ecosystem is growing rapidly, with innovations from Google, Amazon, eBay, AliExpress and Wayfair. And 1 year on from the launch of ASOS' Style Match tool, Andrew Charlton reviews how to prepare for an visual-search future.